Page 122 of Pretty Broken Wings
He doesn’t see the pillow coming as I whap it into his head. Gage gives a startled ‘oomph’, and Buddy dances between us, tail wagging. It takes Gage a second to recover, and he straightens his glasses. His face breaks into a smile an instant before he lunges off the couch.
I squeal, trying to run before strong arms wrap around my middle and yank me back to a hard chest. Then he drops us both back so we’re sitting on the couch, pinning me to him.
“Let me go.” I struggle, trying to keep the laugh out of my voice.
“No.”
“Gage!” I squeal as Buddy sticks her face in mine, licking. My arms are pinned at my sides, and I’m unable to stop her, so I just thrash back and forth, gagging. “It stinks!”
Gage chuckles. “What was that? Sorry, I can’t hear you over the ringing in my head.”
“I didn’t hit you that hard.”
“Huh?”
I fight Gage’s iron grip, but he’s relentless. He keeps me pinned against his body without an inch of wiggle space, and soon, I’m panting and out of breath, trying to keep Buddy away with my feet.
“Get her, Buddy.” Gage leans me down, right into her face.
“Stop!” I see the mouth of unending bad breath descend.
“You going to read to me?”
“Yes! Yes, just let me go!” I’ll say whatever I need to just get away.
Gage hauls me up effortlessly. “See? How hard was that?”
“Now let me go.”
There’s a second where he doesn’t. A second where I feel how hard he is under my ass. A second where I realize he could do whatever he wanted with me.
Then, Gage releases me, and I scramble up and away from him. Gage arches an eyebrow and smirks.
I have an odd moment of relief, embarrassment, and… disappointment. Disappointment? What the hell is wrong with me?
“Get to reading.” Gage kicks his feet up on the coffee table, grabs the book, and hands it to me.
“I’m under duress,” I grump, but I take it.
Gage just grins.
“And I’m not paying you.”
He just closes his eyes, that smile still on his face.
I try not to focus on anything besides just reading the words on the page. Soon, I get caught up in the story that I remember so well. Gage sits there quietly, listening with his eyes closed. After a while, I’m not sure if he’s gone to sleep; he’s so still. But when I pause, he shifts his head in my direction. “Need water?”
“No, I just thought… you were asleep.”
“You’re the one who sounds tired.”
I shrug. There’s something about reading that puts me into a trance.
“Do you want to move to the bedroom?”
My stomach drops at the same time my heart leaps. It does this weird pitter-patter, and I feel like my whole body is racing to catch up.
Gage’s voice is gentle. “Just in case you pass out. More comfortable. Stinks less.”
